Cream puffs are a mainstay in any established restaurant confident enough to serve high tea.

They are delightfully sweet. With the fusion of cream and powdered sugar so addictively pleasurable that you’d be excused if you suspect that someone has slipped some controlled substance into the dessert.

But how about going one-up on the cream puff? Is that even possible?

Well… adding durians to almost any dessert can easily them one level up.

Are you ready to bake your own durian cream puffs?

Puff ingredients

• 500ml of water
• 200g of butter
• 1 tablespoon of fine salt
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons of durian flavouring
• 300g of wheat flour
• 5 eggs

Cream ingredients

• 150ml of water
• 100g of custard flour
• 100g of whipped cream
• 2 tablespoons of durian filling

Step by step instructions for recipe

Making the cream

Mix the custard flour and water and bring it to the boiling point.

When you are satisfied that the blend has mixed well, add the durian filling and gently stir until you can observe the mixture thicken. Continue until your desired thickness.

Some people might be tempted to add more durian filling to increase the strength of the durian flavour. This is a decision that you have to make on your own.

As desserts, usually a subtle flavour added to the sweetness is more than enough to thrill the senses. Allow the cream mixture to cool.

If you want a really powerful durian taste, why even prepare the cream? Just use durian flesh as a substitute for the cream 😀

If you do this, take note that the final product might take on the durian’s taste heavily. This means that if you use musang king, you might find a bitter taste in the dessert. If you only want sweetness in your dessert, consider using flesh from cultivars like IOI or hor lor.

Baking the puff

Preheat the oven to 220°. Beat the eggs together lightly.

Prepare a big bowl and mix the water, butter, salt and granulated sugar. Bring the mixture to boiling point.

When the blend has started to boil, start adding the wheat flour in phases while constantly stirring it. The mixture would slowly take on the form of a scented dough.

Start adding the beaten eggs by phases as well. All the while stirring gently to allow a consistent smooth spread of the ingredients.

Put the batter into the piping bag. Set up the pipes and nozzles on a lightly greased baking tray and put it in the oven.

Slide the tray into the oven and bake at 220° for 10 minutes. Then remove the tray turn it around and slide it back into the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes or until the puffs turn golden.

Remove the puffs, which are now choux pastry balls, and allow it to cool.

Putting the durian cream puffs together

Slice each puff carefully near the base. I would create a cut of about 1/3 to 1/4 of the circumference, and try to dig a little deeper inside the pastry.

This is something you can decide for yourself. It really depends on how much cream you’d like each puff to hold.

Use a table spoon and carefully stuff the durian cream into the puff. Then apply the whip cream to cover up the cut area.

You now have your own durian profiterole.

This is one of the easiest durian desserts to make. Don’t forget to experiment with the flavouring to find a blend that suits your taste buds.